


Kiibouma Week 2018

by teamchaosprez



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Kiibouma Week 2018, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-New Dangan Ronpa V3, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rain, Trans Oma Kokichi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-15 21:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16071506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: A collection of my submissions for the Kiibouma week I'm organizing.DAY 1 - [RAIN] / sun / snowDAY 2 - [HUMANITY / ROBOTICS] / scienceDAY 3 - [SCHOOL] / work / friendsDAY 4 - pregame / [POSTGAME] / non-despairDAY 5 - [CHILDHOOD] / adulthood / familyDAY 6 - swimming / flying / [DANCING]DAY 7 - [ANGST] / hurt-comfort / love





	1. Day One: Rain

**Author's Note:**

> gentle crying kiibouma is my absolute favorite danganronpa pairing and i'm so excited to be doing this
> 
> please check out kiibouma-week.tumblr.com for more info on this week! i'm organizing it :)

Rain poured down as if the sky had been smacked open and started crying all over the earth. Kokichi wasn’t entirely sure why his first instinct every single time was to think about violent metaphors, but he made the decision to open up his umbrella and walk to the dorm building instead. He had a long night of nothing ahead of him, and he didn’t especially want to think about his mental health issues until sleep became impossible even after wearing himself down to the bone doing his schoolwork and taking care of a few finances for his organization. Kokichi let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping ever so slightly as he held his umbrella above his head and kept his eyes peeled to make sure nobody was around.

The last thing he wanted was for any of classmates to see any kind of weakness, after all. He tried so hard to make himself feel bigger, look bigger, make up for his less than average height and weight and mental stability by seeming to be such a huge personality that it was impossible to see him for how small and weak he really was. His own size and strength bothered him immensely, and he hated to think that somebody was looking down upon him aside from literally for any reason.

He barely even noticed the shape before him, the only thing standing out against the rain being snow white hair. Kokichi would recognize Kiibo anywhere, although it was admittedly a little bit harder when the rain had flattened his ahoge. A spike of panic ran through Kokichi’s chest for a moment as it ran through his head that his robotic crush was standing in the rain - what if he shorted out? What if he rusted because of the prolonged exposure to the water? The small supreme leader picked up his pace as he rushed over to Kiibo - didn’t run, but walked much quicker.

The umbrella easily covered the both of them once Kokichi held it up a little bit higher. Rain stopped running down Kiibo’s body, and the robot seemed to be a little startled as his shoulders tensed and he looked over at the smaller boy. “Oh, thank you,” he spoke up, sounding ever so slightly distracted as his sharp blue gaze turned back to in front of him. Kokichi blinked, a little curious and worried as he inched just a little bit closer to Kiibo in order to make holding the umbrella over both of them easier.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” the small supreme leader asked, tilting his head slightly and not letting his gaze wander from the side of Kiibo’s face. Kokichi felt his breath leave his body slightly; the other boy looked so intense, so melancholy when he was thinking and focused like he was now. He admired that. He admired almost everything about Kiibo, if he was being honest. So smart, but so new to the world. So strong, but so aware of his limits and weaknesses. Just thinking about everything he admired about the robot was enough to make his face beginning to heat up and redden.

Kiibo blinked, and looked over at him. “Oh, sorry,” he apologized quickly, a light shade of blue dusting over his cheeks and nose as he snapped back into reality. Kokichi almost felt bad for breaking him out of his thoughts, more than he ever did when he interrupted Shuichi in the middle of his schoolwork. “I was just thinking about the rain. How wonderful it is that the world finds ways to provide for its living things. It’s just amazing how a planet could develop to foster life, let alone long enough to become as intelligent as humans are. Intelligent enough to make intelligent non human life, even.”

A soft sigh of relief left Kokichi; it was a good thing that Kiibo wasn’t doing anything to beat himself up. He wasn’t sure why the robot would do anything like that; he couldn’t think of anything Kiibo would even have to feel bad about, but his own experience with mental illness… was enough to make him wary when any of his friends were lost in thought. “I  _ guess _ it’s kinda cool,” he replied, resting his free hand behind his head and noticing out of the corner of his eye Kiibo’s hand going to rest on the umbrella just above his. Just barely avoiding touching. The blush on Kokichi’s face deepened.

“Hey, is the rain harmful to you?” Kokichi asked, turning his head quickly in order to look away from Kiibo before he could embarrass himself. Weakness. A crush was a weakness. He couldn’t just go about being seriously romantically attracted to someone, that wouldn’t even begin to go well. His heart would just get broken. He was used to that…

Was it hot outside? He adjusted his binder under his shirt with one hand, trying to get a little less sweaty. Make it a little easier to breathe. He scolded himself internally for even thinking about having these kinds of feelings, especially for Kiibo, who he didn’t know could even feel love…

“Only when I’ve had prolonged exposure,” Kiibo responded, and if Kokichi looked back over he would see another blush appearing on the robot’s face. He wasn’t about to do that, though, too nervous to see what his crush was doing or thinking. He just wanted to ignore that these feelings were even happening.  He just wanted to  _ stop _ these feelings from continuing to happen. “Which I… admittedly have. You came at a very good time, Kokichi. Thank you.”

“Psssh, this is only because I’m going to need a super big, super important favor from you later!” Kokichi chirped. God, curse the thoughts that kept running through his head. “That’s a lie! I could never let anything happen to my dear friend Kiiboy!” A soft ‘nishishi’ left him, and a thought crossed his head, one that was a little more helpful than the last, at least. “Say, my place is a lot closer than Iidabashi Labs, right? Why don’t you go ahead and call the professor and let him know you’ll be staying the night at my place? You have a charger on you most of the time, right?”

He heard an undignified squeak come from the robot next to him, and Kokichi was forced to look over at him, see the deep blue blush that had spread all the way across his face. “I - I would appreciate that very much, Kokichi!” the robot exclaimed, a grin on his face as he turned his upper body to face the smaller boy a little better. “I do have a charger with me, and I will call Professor Iidabashi right away to let him know not to worry about me! I didn’t know you could be so kind!”

“I can be kind whenever I want to!” Kokichi blurted out, his heart pounding in his chest and his cheeks bright red. “I just… choose not to most of the time.”

“Why not?”

That was a question he hadn’t been prepared for. Kokichi’s shoulders sunk slightly. Of course he would have to show weakness, explain a couple of his issues to Kiibo. “Because it shows weakness. I’ve never been allowed to be weak. I grew up alone and scared, and then I became the supreme leader of a big organization, so it’s a little hard for me to let other people know what was going on his head. He wished he could follow up with his classic cheeky “that’s a lie,” but it  _ wasn’t. _ And even he wasn’t that good a liar; there were few people in the world that knew that, Kiibo being one of them. He didn’t know why somebody would ever bother to be around him when they had already learned how to see right through his lies, let alone someone as good and as pure as Kiibo. 

“I don’t think kindness is weakness,” Kiibo replied, stepping ever so slightly closer to Kokichi and putting a hand against his shoulder. Kokichi’s first instinct was to flinch and step away, but he remembered at the last moment that he was holding up an umbrella. “I think it means that you’re human. You have thoughts and emotions just like a normal person does, and only evil people don’t feel any sort of empathy or kindness. And you’re not evil! You’re wonderful when you want to be!” His voice was strong. Positive. Filled to the brim with good energy. Kokichi almost felt sick in his presence. He felt like his dark soul was going to leak and collide with Kiibo’s milky white one, tainting him.

He knew that he probably shouldn’t, he absolutely knew that he shouldn’t, but Kokichi turned his head, stepped up ever so slightly taller on his toes to make up for their slight height difference and press his lips against Kiibo’s. He felt the robot tense against him, before he relaxed and returned the kiss, leaning forward ever so slightly in order to deepened.

Kokichi was ever so slightly surprised by how soft, warm… authentic Kiibo’s lips felt. It was better than any of the humans the small supreme leader had kissed in his time, that was for sure, and he had to wonder if the robot had any experience or if he had done research before they could have the chance to kiss… had he planned this? Planned to kiss Kokichi, at least? He doubted it. There were so many other people the robot could have wanted his first kiss to be with… like Rantaro, or Shuichi, or… or maybe he was just naturally good at kissing.

Why couldn’t his brain at least shut up when he was trying to kiss the boy he’d been crushing on for weeks? Why couldn’t he just enjoy this moment without thinking about how he didn’t deserve Kiibo, about how he couldn’t possibly be the person that the robot wanted to kiss. About how this was probably just an effort to not hurt his feelings because Kiibo was so kind and caring and the first law of robotics was to not cause harm to come to a human whether it be through inactivity or direct involvement. Why couldn’t he just enjoy this kiss, enjoy this moment, enjoy being with Kiibo…

The robot pulled away with a tender expression on his face, although it turned into a startled one almost the moment he must have registered the look on Kokichi’s face. “You’re crying!” Kiibo yelped, reaching forward and cupping Kokichi’s cheeks in his hands - the small supreme leader tensed. He hadn’t even noticed that tears were falling down his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, voice soft and worried as Kiibo rested his forehead against Kokichi’s. “Don’t try and tell me it’s just the rain, because we’re covered by the umbrella and I know that it can’t reach you here!”

“No, you didn’t hurt me,” Kokichi sniffled. “I just… I don’t think I deserve you. I’m sorry for kissing you. Let’s just… just head back to my apartment so we can get some rest for tomorrow.”

“Don’t be sorry for kissing me. I enjoyed it. I enjoy being with you.” Kiibo sighed heavily, and Kokichi saw a small smile on his face. “I think you’re wonderful, Kokichi, no matter how you feel about yourself. Can’t you just believe me about that? Can’t we give a relationship a try, make an attempt to be together and happy?” His voice was pleading. “I want to be with you, and I want to help you.”

Although his lower lip was quivering, Kokichi wanted nothing more. He allowed Kiibo to take full control of the umbrella before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around the robot, resting his head against the other boy’s shoulder and feeling one hand rub his back soothingly. “I would really like that,” he answered, his voice soft and ever so slightly strained.

Later, the thoughts would come back, but for now he just wanted to be with his boyfriend.


	2. Day Two: Humanity / Robotics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiibo has some internalized robophobia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look i know hurt comfort has its own prompt but i LOVE this shit i BATHE IN It

Although Kiibo was loathe to admit it, he dealt with some internalized robophobia. This realization had been nothing short of horrifying for him at first; he spent so much time trying to fight that very issue, calling his classmates and friends out on it when they said anything robophobic, and here he was with insecurities regarding his own artificial nature. He was slowly beginning to accept it, though; of course with so many people around him thinking differently because he wasn’t the same species he would pick up on it. Of course he would develop a bit of a negative self opinion if he heard similar so much.

Slower than the acceptance of this problem, though, was fixing it. He knew it was wrong of him to have an altered opinion of them due to being human or robot or something in between. Knowing that and feeling it were two entirely different things when it came to himself, though; every single time something that required emotion came up he began wondering if his were artificial. Every time something that required creativity came up he worried about whether or not his AI would be able to come up with something original. And even though he knew that he was just teasing, just playing, every time Kokichi joked about him not knowing something “because he was a robot” began to affect him.

He was willing to just let it go, just wait for everything to go away on its own, but he reached his limit one day while sitting down and tutoring Kokichi through some difficult algebra homework. “I guess you would know all of these answers since you’re a  _ robot, _ Kiibo! You’re basically made of math!” the small boy teased him, and Kiibo’s eye twitched. He knew that math was Kokichi’s biggest weak point no matter how intelligent he was, and he had to be frustrated, but… did he have to say such rude things?

“I know the answers because I study and I’ve already done this homework, Kokichi, not because I’m a robot,” Kiibo responded, not giving that comment much more thought as he scribbled on the notebook page before him in pencil, explained the formula they were trying to learn now. There was a small pause as he watched Kokichi work through the problem with a calculator, studied the way his boyfriend’s tongue poked out of his mouth slightly when he was focused and tried to avoid his frustration melting away just because he did something cute. “Listen, Kokichi. I would really appreciate it if you would stop making jokes about me being different because I’m a robot. I know I’ve told you multiple times that it’s robophobic, but… it’s bothering me more than usual now.”

Kokichi blinked at him, brows furrowing and his lips folding into a small pout. “Yeah, okay,” he agreed rather quickly, going back to the homework to do the next problem. Kiibo was almost surprised that he was so willing to be compliant, but… he knew that, at his core, the other boy was a good person and was mischievous, not malicious. It made sense for him to stop if he was hurting someone. “Can I ask what’s wrong? I’ve noticed you acting weird lately. Weirder than usual, anyway!” A little ‘nishishi.’

The robot grimaced a little, finally put down the pencil that he had been working with and folded his hands under his chin. Admittedly, he was a little uncomfortable complaining about his own feelings, but… if Kokichi was going to be thoughtful, if he was going to be concerned with his feelings for the moment, then Kiibo would answer him. “I have recently discovered that I have some… problems with internalized robophobia. I’ve noticed that I think a little differently of myself because I’m not a robot. I question whether my emotions and ideas are my own, since my mind is a computer…”

“Of course they’re your own!” Kokichi spoke, his voice almost sounding like he was about to laugh at him as he leaned a little closer to Kiibo. “You’re considered the Ultimate Robot because you have full sentience, right? That means you have your own thoughts and feelings.” The supreme leader reached over and poked Kiibo’s nose, which he wrinkled slightly in response. “You’re completely equal to a human, if not better. There’s no reason for you to feel badly about yourself.”

Kiibo could feel his face light up bright blue, and he couldn’t help but shrink into his shoulders a little. “But you always tease me for being a robot.” He wasn’t exactly protesting, but the words left him before he could really think about it. (He supposed that was a good sign, right? That he didn’t analyze every single thing that left his mouth?) “I don’t understand how you can sit there and tell me I’m not any different from you and then make fun of me for being a robot.” He folded his hands in his lap, looked down at them and twiddled his thumbs. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t stop blushing.

“Hey, hey, don’t go putting words in my mouth! I never said you weren’t any different from a human, because you are!” Kokichi’s words were enough to make Kiibo flinch, and the human quickly began speaking again to try and fix the effects of what he was saying. “You’re different. That’s not a bad thing, though. Everybody’s different from each other, whether it’s personality or species or sexuality or something else, and that’s what makes people… individuals. You’re a robot. So what? That’s really cool, and it’s a part of who you are. It makes you Kiibo and that means it’s great.”

Emotion swelled up in Kiibo’s chest, where his heart would be if he had a functional one. It was a rare treat for Kokichi to get genuine like this - he hated to be emotionally vulnerable and he so rarely let people know how he really felt. Kiibo was one of the few people who he wasn’t always afraid of being truly emotional around, and he appreciated that deeply. He reached across the table to gently take hold of one of Kokichi’s hands, a small smile on his face. “Thank you, Kokichi.”

A blush appeared across Kokichi’s pale skin, and violet eyes darted away from Kiibo to look out the window next to them instead. “You don’t need to thank me for telling the truth for once!” he spoke quickly, and Kiibo couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at the way the small boy reacted. “I can be honest  _ sometimes! _ And knowing you’re equal to people is just the truth.” There was a small pause, and Kokichi sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Honestly, Kiibo, I know I tease you a lot, but I really do care a lot about you. You’re… one of the only people that can handle me, and I appreciate that.”

“You’re high maintenance and a liar, Kokichi, but you’re a wonderful person deep down!” Kiibo’s voice was bright as he reached to take back the hand that had been pulled away and gently take the other as well. The robot watched his boyfriend’s face, saw the flustered and mildly frightened expression, and he very quickly released as soon as he realized that this was one of the few times that the human absolutely did not want to be touched.

Something he had learned in his months being close to and eventually dating Kokichi: he was very physically affectionate, but had severe problems with mental illnesses, trauma even. As much as he wanted to help, he knew that sometimes it wasn’t as easy a it seemed. Every so often, he didn’t want to be touched, barely wanted to be seen, and part of Kiibo wondered if he was what triggered it this time around. Guilt developed through his chest and mind, though he tried his best to not think too much on it. There was no point in making it so that the both of them were emotional messes.

“I’m not,” Kokichi responded, his voice a little flatter than Kiibo was used to hearing from him. The small boy let out a heavy sigh, leaned forward so that his chin was resting against his arms. “I’m really not a good person. But… I’ve known a lot of bad humans. Myself included. Humans that hurt each other for no good reason, humans who hurt  _ me _ for no good reason. I think that even beginning to think badly of yourself because  _ you’re _ not human is… terrible.” A shaky sigh left him. “But it’s not that I only like you because you’re not human! I like you for you. It’s just… I don’t know. Stop worrying about not being human, because being human is overrated and terrible.”

Kiibo blinked. He hadn’t expected for Kokichi to go on a tirade against his own kind. The robot rose from his chair, tugged it along with him as he made his way over to his boyfriend’s side. “Kokichi…” At first, all he could manage to say was his boyfriend’s name. Although he wanted to reach out for Kokichi and hold him close and comfort him, he knew that keeping his distance was best for now.

He thought about what he should say next, harder than he had in a long time. “You know… if I can’t think differently of myself because I’m a robot, then I don’t think you should think badly of yourself because you’re a human.” He didn’t know what to do with his hands; they felt so useless in his lap, but he knew that he shouldn’t touch Kokichi when he was like this. “Just because a few humans treated you badly in the past doesn’t mean that all of them are bad. There are so many good humans in the world, like you, or Shuichi, or Rantaro, or any of our other friends, or Professor Iidabashi…”

The robot’s voice faded, though he kept his eyes on Kokichi carefully. He could practically hear the gears turning and turning in his boyfriend’s mind. After what felt forever, the small supreme leader moved one hand in order to link it with Kiibo’s, giving a gentle squeeze that Kiibo was grateful his nerve endings were advanced enough to feel. Kokichi moved, shifting into the robot’s lap and wrapping his arms around the robot and resting his head underneath his chin. Kiibo’s theoretical heart swelled in his chest, and his arms went to wrap loosely around his boyfriend and hold him close.

“Hey, Kiibo?” the smaller of the two spoke, his voice just as tiny and frail as the rest of him was for once. It broke the robot’s theoretical heart.

“Yes?” he replied nonetheless, rubbing his back gently and trying to soothe him as best he could. He was so helpless most of the time to help with Kokichi’s relentless mental illnesses, but he prayed that this was at least doing a little bit. At least making the pain in his chest a little less prominent.

“I love you.” It was the first time those three words had left the supreme leader’s mouth together in a serious manner - he was always joking about loving his friends, but always in a teasing manner. He had never told Kiibo that he loved him romantically; the robot hadn’t even realized how long he’d been waiting for it until it already happened. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his lips.

“I love you too, Kokichi,” he told him honestly and earnestly, pressing his lips against the small boy’s hairline and feeling him melt into the touch. He smelled like lavender from his shampoo and dust from the time they spent in the library earlier and graphite and wood from working with a pencil for so long. He smelled like Kokichi - like home, and frustration, and safety, and mischief, and love, and loneliness. Kiibo decided rather quickly that it was his favorite scent, the best that his limited sense of smell had ever detected.

This moment, his roboticism, Kokichi’s humanity… it all meant the world to him.


	3. Day Three: School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi struggles with school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i started college about a month ago so i'm projecting a bit. the struggle bus is real.

It wasn’t that Kokichi wasn’t smart - he was. He was intelligent, cunning, his pranks were far too well thought out for somebody that didn’t have half a brain, and if he put his mind to figuring something out the only person that could rival his quick thinking and sound decisions was his classmate and friend Shuichi Saihara. Even with how intelligent he was, though, he struggled deeply with school, and it was commonly believed that he was stupid. Rumors spread like wildfire that he had stopped learning when he was young, which was why he acted so childish, why he felt the need to seek attention by playing little tricks on everyone and teasing whoever was unfortunate enough to cross his path.

The truth was, school was difficult for him. He didn’t have the energy to do very much work outside of what he had time in class to do, and when he  _ did _ have the energy to do something outside of class, he always thought his time was better spent on something that wasn’t homework he was too smart for. Kokichi struggled to keep focused, he struggled to keep his motivation - it wasn’t that he was lazy, it was just that he physically could not get himself to do anything unless he sat down and forced himself to. He hated himself for it - he even beat himself down for being lazy, because he had long decided that as long as he did the bare minimum he could just drift by out of high school and into whatever was next. College wasn’t an option. He supposed he would have to just get a job somewhere right after graduating. Some fast food place somewhere or a retail store would have to take a trans teenager that barely graduated high school, right? That was what they existed for, right?

The thought wasn’t very comforting.

The idea that he wouldn’t amount to much wasn’t comforting.

He wasn’t sure why Kiibo, straight A student who went above and beyond what was expected of him just because he wanted to  _ learn _ and prove himself, could see any good in him. He didn’t understand why his boyfriend wanted to date him when he had long been assumed to be a slacker. Kokichi liked him - admired him - loved him, even - so he wasn’t going to fight the decision to date him and be a big part of his life, but this was the one thing he just couldn’t figure out. Aside from maybe algebra and geometry and any other math that was thrown at him, anyway,  _ that _ was actually difficult.

It was late in the afternoon when Kiibo decided to work on homework while they were hanging out, and he insisted that Kokichi join him since they shared a lot of the same classes and had a lot of the same assignments. Despite the supreme leader’s long standing hatred for doing any sort of work out of class, he agreed, and the two of them sat on the floor of his dorm room and discussed the reading and worksheet that they had been required to do. Just as he expected to, Kokichi found it easy, and that was enough to make him wonder  _ why _ he always put everything off until the last minute. It wasn’t  _ hard. _

The same thought must have crossed Kiibo’s mind, because he voiced it. “You don’t seem to be struggling with this at all,” the robot commented, tilting his head as he watched Kokichi write. “You’re excellent at retaining information, and excellent at delivering it in a clear and neat way. I was under the impression that you struggled with memory and application. Why are your grades so low?”

He felt his face light up bright red, and Kokichi couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed and ashamed of himself because of how bluntly he was being asked about why he sucked at school. The supreme leader put down his pencil without even bothering to finish writing down the answer he was working on, and pulled his knees up to his chest as if they would protect him from the scolding that he knew was going to come as soon as he told his boyfriend the truth about his struggles with school.

“Honestly, I just… struggle with finding the motivation and energy to do any work outside of class,” he spoke slowly, voice flatter and calmer than it usually was. This was the sort of thing he couldn’t make fun of himself for or act childish about - it affected his life too much to. “It’s like I go to do the work, I pull out the paper and hold my pencil and know that I can find the answers, but… I can’t do the work.” He sounded lazy, he knew he did, and he was already beating himself up about it. He knew that Kiibo would look at him with disgust and tell him he had no future.

So he was surprised when the scolding never came, and there was just quiet for a few moments. He forced himself to look up with nervous violet eyes, and found Kiibo deep in thought, blue eyes a little unfocused. “I apologize for my silence, I’m currently conducting an Internet search on what you’ve just told me,” he spoke, sounding a little sheepish, and all Kokichi could really do was shrink his head so that a majority of his face was hidden by his knees and watch the robot through his bangs. “Okay, I’ve gotten a couple of results. It looks like what you’ve mentioned to me could be symptoms of a major depressive disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Since your memory seems to be intact and excellent, though, I would say that the former is more likely. Do you ever feel hopeless and alone?”

Kokichi scoffed, leaned back a little. “Oh, come on, that’s not a good question to ask me while we’re on a  _ daaaate _ !” Revert right back to the childish and teasing persona, that was how he could get through this, that was how he could deal with being told to his face that he might be mentally ill. “Depressed? Me? Come on Kiiboy, have you even met me? I’m just  _ bursting _ with energy and joy!”

The robot seemed unconvinced. “Depression doesn’t mean you can’t be happy, Kokichi, and if it’s affecting your ability to do well in school and work towards a good future, then it’s a problem. Have you considered maybe going to see the nurse or a doctor about this issue you’re having? They could probably tell you more than a quick Google search done by me could, and might be able to give you a diagnosis and help you with it if it’s severe… or if it’s something else. I don’t think you’re just lazy.”

He wasn’t really listening all that much to his boyfriend’s words. He was busy thinking back on how he had spent his entire life - cutting himself off, feeling cold and isolated when he grew up in the orphanage and thinking more than once about hurting himself or committing suicide. His misery wasn’t constant, and he had happy moments, but they were all weighed down by a pain in his chest and the knowledge that the joy wouldn’t last. Kokichi hated to admit it, but the thought that he was depressed… actually made some sort of sense. And it would explain why he didn’t have the energy for homework.

An answer wasn’t about to leave him anytime soon, and Kiibo seemed to sense that, because he leaned over the table again, and when Kokichi looked up from just staring at his lap he found that the robot was holding the pencil he was using before out to him. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. For now, why don’t we just keep working on our homework? This is due tomorrow, and I know you haven’t started yet, so we need to get working and get it done in time. I believe we can do it.”

Kokichi sighed heavily, leaned forward ever so slightly and began went back to working on his homework, filling in answers and occasionally looking up and mentioning something he found odd to Kiibo, who would nod patiently and respond with commentary of his own. At first, this seemed to work okay; knowing the reason behind his struggles was enough to make him feel a little better. He wasn’t just lazy, and if he needed to he could talk to the school nurse or counselor about getting help for it. Having Kiibo there, working with him and motivating him, was enough to make him able to get some done.

Halfway through the packet he was working through, though, Kokichi could feel himself running out of energy and motivation. He slumped forward a little more, let his forehead thunk gently against the wood of the desk as he let out a heavy, long suffering sigh. “Isn’t there something more important for us to do?” Like rest and take a break for, like, half an hour. “I’m tired of working on history homework.”

“But we don’t have an awful lot of time to get this done, Kokichi. We’re just going to have to keep focused and power through it.” Kiibo didn’t humor his complaining for long if at all, and didn’t look up at Kokichi as he continued to write in his own packet. Kokichi watched him finish one last sentence with a sort of finalization he envied and put the pencil down - he had finished the assignment, and the supreme leader was only halfway through. His heart sunk. Maybe he really was just stupid and lazy - it didn’t cross his mind that the robot had only finished first because he got started before coming over.

The supreme leader groaned, put his pencil back against the paper and began working again, but he could only get through half a sentence before he could feel his will petering out. The markings he made on the worksheet slowed, and Kokichi ground his teeth in frustration, feeling like he was about to lose his temper and throw the pencil across the room. “I can’t do it,” he whined, wriggling slightly in his seat and feeling like he was about to explode - not from excess energy, but from lack thereof. He wanted to get up and walk around, but he also wanted to collapse in bed and take a nap.

“Yes. You can.” Kiibo’s voice was casual and knowing, as if he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world. Like he was commenting on the weather, or the color of the walls. Cream. Could probably be colored better. No, this was bad, he couldn’t get distracted by the color of the walls, he needed to focus on what he was doing. The robot seemed to notice the look on Kokichi’s face, because he spoke up once again. “Tell you what, every time you finish a question I’ll give you a kiss.”

He blinked, straightened up slightly in his seat. “What?” Give Kiibo credit, he sure captured Kokichi’s attention. A reward system? Not only was that manipulative, it was also genius, because the robot knew full well that if there was one thing the smaller of the two liked, it was receiving physical affection from his beloved Kiiboy. “... How about two kisses for every question?” He had been looking for motivation to finish, and now he had at least a temporary motive.

“No, that’s not equivalent. You do one question, and I give you one kiss. How many questions do you have left?” He reached across the table instead of waiting for the supreme leader to answer - probably because he didn’t trust him not to lie. That was fair enough, it wasn’t above him to lie about how many questions he’d just filled out the answer to. “Fifteen questions. That’s fifteen kisses. All you have to do is finish your homework, and you’ll get enough affection to last you a week!”

The supreme leader clicked his tongue, tapped his pencil on the table as Kiibo passed the packet back over. He was interested, and he did want kisses, so… he supposed it was worth a shot. “Okay. Let’s do it. But you better not skimp me out on any smooches, Kiiboy!”


	4. Day Four: Postgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi has been struggling since the end of the killing game simulation, especially when he finds he's been kicked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow we're halfway done... this week chuggin along...

_ It was all a simulation. _

The first five words that Kokichi heard upon waking up, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about them. He was half awake, delirious, still felt pain all over his body - ghost pains, because being crushed was the last thing he felt, as it was explained to him by a pleasant doctor with a kind smile. She’d patted him on the shoulder, told him that everything was fine. He was fine. Completely fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him. If he could believe that. Which he couldn’t. Not with the countless nightmares and the phantom pains and waking up screaming because every time he closed his eyes he only saw their dead friends and even when he was allowed to see them alive and well he couldn’t stop thinking about Kirumi on the floor with a tattered dress, Kaede hanging on a piano…

A few days after he woke up, the memories of who he was before started coming back, and if he was being honest, Kokichi wasn’t sure who he was now. Kokichi Ouma, the boy from the simulation who played mean pranks and laughed everything off and told lies like they were second nature. Or was he Mai Ouma, the boy too much of a coward to call himself a boy who only ever lied about that and had only been able to make one friend in his seventeen long, long years on this miserable planet? Did he exude false confidence, or was he an easy victim? Was he mischievous, or was he kind? Assertive or a doormat?

He didn’t know, he didn’t  _ know. _

One week after he woke up from the simulation, Kokichi was allowed to go home. He begged them to let him stay a little longer, to let him get some psychiatric help, but he was just given the number of a “really good therapist” and a train ticket back to his hometown. The nurses threatened to call security on him if he didn’t leave, and the part of him that was an anxious victim of the world dictated that he turn on his heel and high tail it out of the hospital. So that was exactly what he did.

The train ride lasted four hours, and Kokichi wasn’t sure if he had always lived that far away or if Team Danganronpa had decided to send their participants to a hospital further away from the studio just in case one of them went crazy and decided to exact revenge for the psychological damage just being on the show did to them. He wouldn’t be surprised. There was a part of him, a teeny tiny part of him that wasn’t a staunch pacifist wanted to buy some grenades and rush into that studio and…

_ Danganronpa. _ That word caught his attention from the television in the train car. Kokichi glanced up, finding a news story there.  _ … controversy surrounding the psychological damage and lack of good care that stems from Danganronpa… suicide rates for victims, survivors, and killers alike… protestors and fans are both calling for the show to be cancelled after the ending of the most recent season…  _ Only brief snippets of sentences reached the boy’s ears, but it was enough to get his heart pounding.

Shuichi, Himiko, and Maki had been the survivors of the season. They said something about wanting to work to end Danganronpa, and he had agreed wholeheartedly with them. He had always hated the show, ever since Shuichi - his one and only friend for years of his life - showed it to him and told him that the deaths happening were  _ so totally real. _ Murder itself made him feel sick, let alone televised murder. Especially now that he had been on it himself, he would be more than happy to see it end.

To be the last murder victim of Danganronpa. How depressingly fitting for him.

Feeling sick, he went back to reading his magazine.

A walk back from the station led Kokichi to the end of the pathway to his parents’ house, and he was surprised to find all of his belongings out on the front porch. Not even boxed. Clothes were wet from recent rain, he was sure his laptop was broken, he brushed his hand against his phone and found himself glad he had it with him but also feeling terrible because he knew what this was about. His parents must have watched Danganronpa. They must have seen him as a boy. They must have found out that he was trans. Kokichi felt like he was going to throw up, so he did, ducking by the mailbox and emptying the sparse contents of his stomach. He didn’t know what to do - he couldn’t exactly go up to the house, knock on the door and try to talk some sense into them. He had been through so much, he didn’t want to go back into the closet and refuse who he was just for the sake of staying with his abusive family for a longer time. Tears pricked at his eyes, and he took a deep breath.

His money from participating in Danganronpa would be coming in a month. All he had to do was find somewhere to stay until then. He forced himself to breathe, mentally went through the list of his fellow season 53 participants. Shuichi was an option, and he knew his uncle, but he lived three hours away. He couldn’t exactly get there with no money and a ton of stuff.

Several minutes of calming down later, and Kokichi called Rantaro, who offered to let him stay at his house until he got his money and an apartment sorted out. Fifteen minutes of waiting for his friend to come over and help him get his stuff into boxes and into the car, and Kokichi watched his parents’ house disappear for the last time, feeling a pit forming in his chest. At least he was safe, at least he was alive, he thought as the modest but expensively furnished home of Rantaro Amami came into view.

When he stepped out of the car, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t surprised by none other than K1-B0 appear in the doorway. The robot seemed to be in relatively good health, considering a mere week ago his body had been damaged so extensively by Team Danganronpa during the time the season was airing that he needed to stay in a computer in the hospital. Kokichi felt his heart skip a beat, his face light up bright pink as he faced the robot that he had a crush on for the entire time they were in the simulation. He was just as cute in real life as he had been in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.

“Hello, Kokichi,” Kiibo said in a gentle voice as he took the box that Kokichi was about point five seconds away from dropping and began carrying it to the house. “There’s only two spare bedrooms and Professor Iidabashi is staying in one, so we’re going to have to share. There’s plenty of room and a curtain in the middle, though! So it’ll be like I’m not even there!” A bright smile was on his face, and if Kokichi’s heart pounded any harder in his chest he was sure it would burst out like an alien in a badly outdated horror movie. “But if you don’t want to be alone, I’ll always be right there.”

He felt like his face was overheating, and he struggled to keep his breathing under control. “Thanks,” he squeaked out, and turned on his heel to speed walk back to the car and get a second box. He only had three boxes’ worth of belongings, so it only took him, Kiibo, and Rantaro to carry them all in and to the guest room where he would be staying until he could get an apartment. Kokichi walked to the drier to throw his rain wet clothes in and dry them off, and for the moment, it felt like everything was going to be okay. Danganronpa was in the process of being cancelled, he was out of his parents’ house and could be safely out of the closet, and he got to stay with Kiibo and Rantaro, two of the people he trusted the most in the world, for a while. He could recover, he would be okay.

For two nights, he even went without nightmares, wearing himself out completely so that he could collapse into bed and just have a dreamless night. Once his mind learned how to catch up with him and make him relive what he had been through whenever he closed his eyes, though, Kokichi was not prepared for it, and after watching Gonta get impaled by a gigantic wasp for him for what felt like hours he shot awake with a scream, feeling panic bubbling up in his mind and his entire body and his chest tighten, taking his lungs and  _ squeezing _ until he couldn’t  _ breathe, _ he didn’t recognize where he was and he still heard the sounds of people around him crying and hyperventilating. Kokichi scrambled to grab onto the soft sheets underneath him, trying to remember how to breathe. Trying to recognize his surroundings.

He flinched away when he felt somebody touch his shoulder, and wide violet eyes snapped to look at whoever was next to him. Kiibo looked worried, bright blue eyes glowing slightly in the darkness of the room. Kokichi felt his shoulders untense slightly as soon as he realized that it was somebody he trusted, somebody he was close to, somebody that could potentially keep him safe. “Do you need me to come lay down with you?” the robot asked, his voice soft and worried.

The small boy hesitated, feeling his breathing slow down gradually as he remembered where he was. Rantaro’s house. A spare bedroom. He was safe. He wasn’t at the Ultimate Academy, he wasn’t on Danganronpa, nobody was going to hurt him here. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he hesitated for a moment before finally deciding that he needed the physical comfort and nodded. Kiibo pulled himself up onto the soft bed, laying down next to Kokichi, who immediately turned over and wrapped his arms around the robot. He thought a metal body might make Kiibo uncomfortable, but he was… soft. Warm. Safe. Kiibo returned the embrace, and Kokichi curled up against him, feeling himself finally begin to relax surrounded by someone so warm and pure and loving.

Gentle fingers ran through his hair soothingly, and the small boy felt lips press against his forehead; he let out a soft sigh, closed his eyes and felt the panic in his chest quickly become replaced by warmth and affection. He had been aware of his feelings for Kiibo for a while, since before he died in the simulation even, and normally he would be completely mortified to be held like this, but… he needed the comfort, and he was sleepy enough because of the early hour and his previous panic that he didn’t even fully realize that he was wrapped up in the hold of his crush.

“I care about you very deeply, Kokichi,” he heard the robot speak, and he peeked his gaze out of the blankets in order to look up at the robot. “I am here for you, and you don’t have to worry about being alone anymore, because you aren’t. You don’t have to face this trauma by yourself, and you… you don’t even have to sleep alone if you don’t want to. I’ll keep you safe from the nightmares.” There was a small pause. “We can even look into finding you a therapist soon if you want. A few of the other people that were in our killing game class have them and say it helps.”

“Okay,” Kokichi responded in a soft and small voice, less like the him from the simulation that he had slowly been becoming and more like the timid and shy boy he had been his entire life previously. He closed his eyes, let out a small sigh, and allowed sleep to begin to take him.

“Thank you, Kiibo.”


	5. Day Five: Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi meets an AI in the orphanage's basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kids are my weakness did you know that

The orphanage’s basement was off limits, and Kokichi did not like to break the rules. He was smaller than the other kids, though, and was very different, so they tended to torment him at any given opportunity; there was only so much his one and only friend (and practically his big sister) Maki Harukawa could do to protect him when she had a lot of other kids to help take care of. So that was why he made the decision to stay out of sight for a day, hopefully be where the bullies wouldn’t find him and where Maki wouldn’t have to worry about him getting hurt. Part of his young mind thought this plan was foolproof; that he would be able to spend some time to himself and relax.

He sat by the door to the basement, where most children tended to stay away to avoid the teachers yelling at them or getting upset. Kokichi curled against the wall by the door with a book he had stolen from the nearby bookstore fairly recently, flipped through the pages as he read all about astronomy and the stars and what everything in space was made of. He wanted to know; he wanted to learn. The calm and happiness that gaining information left him with was enough to sweep him away to another state of mind, at least for a little while, at least long enough for everything to be okay for now.

It didn’t take him very long for the other children, the ones who wanted to cause him hurt and terror, to find him. They took his book, they laughed at him for being a nerd and a tomboy (“I am a boy,” he insisted, but they only told him to stop lying), and they opened the door despite his pleading with them to not and pushed him down the stairs. He stumbled down, down, letting out gentle grunts at the force hitting his body before he finally stopped at the bottom and hit his head against the cement with a thud.

He was sure, at first, that the faint cyan light across the room and the voice speaking to him were only because of his head wound. The piercing headache and slight metallic taste in his mouth from blood where he had bitten his tongue was enough to convince him that he probably had a concussion. Kokichi had half a mind to run upstairs, go crying to Maki, but just as big violet eyes blinked open the door slammed shut and he could hear the click of the lock closing behind him. The most strict teacher of the orphanage snapped at the children that closed him in, and he assumed she didn’t know he was downstairs. He was perfectly fine with keeping it that way; she would blame him.

Kokichi sat up, decided to investigate around the basement and find something he could tell Maki about later. Something that was new, outside of what he had already learned about the way the place worked. He knew that it was kept above bankruptcy by a place called the Holy Salvation Society, that their donators didn’t make their money through an entirely ethical means. He couldn’t quite track exactly what it was that they did, but maybe he could find it out downstairs…

“Are you okay?”

The voice, ever so slightly distorted as if it were coming through a television speaker, was enough to break Kokichi out of his thoughts. He blinked twice, turned his head towards the source of the sound, and found a computer; an old looking one at that, looking more like a box with a screen than anything else. Blue light emanated from the screen, and Kokichi furrowed his brows as he got to his feet shakily and began approaching. His whole body ached; he was willing to bet that he would have bruises soon. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he answered as he reached the desk and sat down at the computer.

A boy looked at him from the other side of the screen. He looked to be about Kokichi’s age, with a pale face, messy white hair, and big blue eyes, with lines streaking from his eyes down his cheeks. “Good! You took quite a stumble down the stairs, I was worried about you!” the strange computer boy chirped, a bright smile appearing across his features, and Kokichi tilted his head as he watched him carefully. Was this a boy on video call? Or was he part of the computer?

“I’m Kokichi Ouma,” he introduced himself, pulling his knees a little closer to his chest as if to protect himself. “You know that there’s an orphanage upstairs? I live there. Where are you?” He assumed that this boy was just video calling from somewhere else, because that made the most sense in his eyes. He didn’t think it was possible to have a computer ghost or something on such an old device, especially in the basement of a very old and very old fashioned orphanage. He was surprised there was a computer in the orphanage at  _ all _ , he had only ever seen them in libraries when they had field trips.

“I’m K1-B0! Though I would prefer if you called me Kiibo! I’m an AI!” the boy replied, clearly very excited to be having a conversation. “I’ve been here for a long time, since Professor Iidabashi - my creator - donated the computer with me on it to the orphanage. It’s been… I think three years? So I’ve been here a little less than half my life! I’m six years old!”

“Me too!” Kokichi was rather pleased to have somebody that had a bit in common with him despite only having spoken to them for a few minutes. It was hard for him to make friends with somebody. Even if they were a computer program. “Do you like to learn things? That’s my favorite thing to do. I read a lot of books and play pranks sometimes.” He wiggled slightly in his seat out of excitement, and watched Kiibo’s face light up as a result. He was immediately pleased with himself. 

“I do!” Kiibo responded happily. “I like to absorb new information whenever I can. Though… it is pretty hard for me to read books, since I’m on a computer.” A frown briefly appeared on his face, but it quickly faded when he spoke up again. “You know, it’s been pretty lonely down there the last few years! I’m very happy to have somebody to talk to now!” The smile on his face seemed genuine, more genuine than any other grin Kokichi had ever seen in his life. So different from the tired and stressed smiles that Maki gave him to try and reassure him, so separate from the maliciousness the other kids showed him.

The two of them talked, longer than Kokichi had ever spoken to anybody else. He felt so much more accepted and safe than he ever had talking to anybody else, and that was enough to make him happier than he had been for as long as he could remember. It wasn’t meant to last, though, because within a couple of hours of talking to Kiibo, he heard the door open and saw light fill the room. A strong hand grabbed Kokichi by the back of his dress and yanked him away from the computer, and the small boy couldn’t help but squeal as he was carried out of the basement.

He was yelled at, told that he was never to go into the basement again, but for once in his life Kokichi didn’t close in on himself and start crying the moment anybody raised their voice at him. The small boy glanced over his shoulder, though, and got one last glance down the stairs at Kiibo before the teacher slammed the basement door behind them. “Don’t tell anybody what you just saw,” was the demand that he was given, and Kokichi nodded obediently.

And he did as he was told - he never told anybody, not even Maki, about Kiibo.

However, what he did do was sneak downstairs every single day when the other kids went outside to play and the teachers followed them to supervise. He became closer to Kiibo than he ever had been to anyone else in his life, had more in common with his new artificial intelligence friend than he did with anyone else, which was kind of weird when he thought about it because he was human and Kiibo… wasn’t. But he didn’t care; he teased his new best friend so much, but he loved him regardless.

As much more bearable as Kiibo made his time at the orphanage, though, Kokichi had a hard time with the constant bullying and teasing and abuse from the other kids. He was well aware that he couldn’t take this any longer, that he couldn’t live like this much longer. He would take living on the streets instead, so that was exactly what he chose to do, stuffing his very limited amount of belongings (a teddy bear his mother left him with, a few variations of the same outfit, the books he’d stolen from bookstores and libraries when he got the chance to. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and thought at the last moment that he probably ought to go downstairs and say goodbye to Kiibo.

This was going to be one of the hardest things he did in his life; Maki wouldn’t be surprised to find him gone in the morning, she knew just how bad off he had it in the orphanage, but Kiibo? Kiibo wouldn’t understand when he stopped coming downstairs for their nightly visits. He would think that he was abandoned. And Kokichi  _ couldn’t _ let that happen. 

The seven year old closed the door to the basement behind him as he walked slowly down the stairs of the orphanage, made his way to the computer and watched it light up bright blue as soon as Kiibo sensed that somebody was in front of him. “Kokichi!” the artificial intelligence spoke happily, a smile spreading across his entire face. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t come see me today! I’m so glad I was wrong!” A small pause. “... You have a backpack with you. Are you going to school?”

Kokichi winced, adjusted the strap of the backpack so it rested a little better against his back before he let out a sigh. He was only seven years old, something deep inside of him reminded him; he shouldn’t have to do this, he shouldn’t have to worry about saying goodbye to his best friend in the world. “I’m leaving the orphanage, actually. I can’t take much more of the way the other kids treat me, and I can’t take much more of the teachers not caring about me. I… I probably won’t see you again, but… this is what’s best for me. This is what I need to do.”

Kiibo’s face fell, and sadness flooded his blue eyes; a pang of guilt overcame Kokichi, and he was almost tempted to declare that it was a lie, that he was going to stick around forever and ever. But he couldn’t, he needed to do this. “... I understand.” Kiibo’s voice was heavy with how sad he was, but his words were encouraging, and the small orphan knew that his best friend was being honest. “Just promise you won’t forget about me, okay? And if you ever get the chance, come back for me.”

“I promise, and I’ll find a way to come back.” Kokichi was confident in that promise; he was smart, he was capable, he could accomplish anything he wanted to do. “Don’t forget about me either.”

“I won’t.”

And for eight years, he didn’t forget the boy on the computer in the basement of the orphanage. He didn’t forget their conversations, didn’t forget how he kindly he was treated. As time went on, though, he became less and less sure that he would ever see Kiibo again.

Until he stood in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, and locked eyes with the Ultimate Robot.


	6. Day Six: Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi and Kiibo's wedding day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a lil drabble this time round!

The night of their wedding, Kokichi was a swirling image of violet and silk, and as afraid as Kiibo was to step outside of his comfort zone, he wanted to make this night perfect.

Metal arms wrapped around his husband’s soft, warm flesh, and Kiibo took the steps that he had rehearsed so carefully. One step, two step, one step, two step. Twirl the smaller boy with one arm, watch him laugh and watch his face bright up. His chest where his heart should be warmed.

As he met Kokichi’s lips in a gentle kiss, Kiibo melted into the happiness.


	7. Day Seven: Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiibo is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is based HEAVILY off of an rp that i did with my good friend saishu! i'll link their ao3 once i know it dhhf

Kiibo couldn’t shake the sense that something was wrong. It planted itself in his programming, filled his entire body with a sick feeling of dread that made him feel like if he had a stomach he would probably throw up its contents. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, exactly, but he was pretty sure the feeling had something to do with the fact that his boyfriend had not come to class. Skipping wasn’t the most out of character thing for Kokichi could do - he often thought of some of their classes as a waste of time - but he had been developing a better track record of showing up since their relationship sparked. There was a part of Kiibo that felt happy that he was a good influence on his boyfriend, but… well, the rest of him was too busy being worried sick to even consider being happy at the moment.

He could barely focus on the teacher’s rambling for the entire time he was in the classroom, tapping the eraser end of his mechanical pencil against the wood of the desk and bouncing his knee. He wanted to get up and leave and go check on Kokichi, but he knew that it was rude to just get up and sprint back to the dorms, even if attending class at Hope’s Peak Academy wasn’t obligatory. Miu leaned over to him to make a joke about him being so horny he couldn’t sit still, and he scolded her quietly, but his words didn’t have any heat behind them; he needed this class to end already.

“Seriously, Kiibs, what’s wrong?” Miu asked him after class as he rushed to shove his notebook and textbook into his backpack so that he could rush back to the dorm building and try to find Kokichi. “You’re usually one of the only people who  _ can _ sit still during class, it’s kinda weird that you’re having such a hard time focusing. Are you just having an off day or something?”

He appreciated his friend’s concern and her trying to talk to him, but he didn’t have time to humor her - he needed to get out of the classroom as soon as humanly possible. “I’m just worried about Kokichi,” he responded, voice quicker than it usually was as he shrugged his backpack onto his back. “I’m sure he’s fine and it’s nothing to worry about, but I can’t help but be concerned. So I’ve been waiting for class to be over so I can hurry over and check on him.” He had already started walking before he even finished his sentence, and he gave Miu a small smile. “Thank you for checking up on me and making sure I’m alright, but I really do need to go and make sure he’s okay.”

The inventor scoffed, but didn’t stop him. “If you ask me, that little twink isn’t worth worrying about. He doesn’t think about other people enough to let you know if he skips class.” Kiibo knew that was incorrect. Kokichi had a good heart, somewhere underneath his coping mechanisms of lying and pushing other people away and playing sometimes mean jokes. He was sure that if he was going to skip class, he would have said something beforehand so Kiibo wouldn’t worry. “But on the off chance something is wrong, just lemme know and I’ll come by to try and help out.”

“Thank you,” Kiibo responded, his voice quick as he finally rushed out of the room and started walking down to the dorm building. It wasn’t much of a walk between the school itself and his class’ dorms; Hope’s Peak had to build an entirely new structure to fit the amount of students that had been flooding into the school to live on campus and find some sort of calm from their various backgrounds. Kokichi was one of the people who needed the shelter and home the most, although the isolation could sometimes lead him to do less savory things, which was what really worried Kiibo.

What if he hurt himself? What if - god forbid - he had made the choice to end his own life and Kiibo hadn’t been there to stop him? His thoughts rushed ahead of his feet. He was a little surprised by his own ability to think about the worst case scenario, and tried to reassure himself that it was probably okay, that his boyfriend had just decided to hang out on the Internet or play video games instead of coming to class that day because he was too tired or just didn’t feel like it.

He rushed to Kokichi’s room, and tested the door first. Locked. He knocked on the wood, tried calling out to his boyfriend, but there was no answer. Kiibo leaned over to peek under the door, and found that the light was off. It was most likely that he just wasn’t home, and the robot let out a heavy sigh, although he couldn’t keep more anxiety from blooming where his heart would be if he had one.

Kiibo pulled out his phone, unlocked it and opened Kokichi’s contact in order to call his boyfriend and just check up on him. He knew that the small boy almost never went anywhere without his phone on him. The phone rang, but nobody picked up, and he let out a slow sigh before trying again to call - this time, he heard something faint, from the door of the dorm building that led outside. He turned quickly on his heel and began to rush down the stairs, and saw the door open slowly.

Kokichi appeared in the doorway immediately, and as relieved as Kiibo was to see him alive, he felt a lump in his throat when he saw the state he was in. Kokichi was bloodied, his white uniform torn and covered in deep, deep pink, another cut on his forehead making blood trail down his face. Plum hair was clumped with the sticky blood, violet eyes dazed and unfocused. He managed to take a limping step while Kiibo stood in the middle of the stairs in a shock, before collapsing to the ground with a thump.

The robot sprinted down to his boyfriend before he even had enough time to think about it, and held the other boy in his arms. Made sure that he was still breathing, although it was in a wheezing and slow manner. “Stay awake,” Kiibo told him with a firm voice, brushing the bangs out of his hair and seeing the way his breath hitched and his eyes looked up at him. The way his expression softened, the way love flooded onto his features. Kiibo melted, realized how much he was wrapped around the prankster’s little finger. “Just talk to me, do something to keep yourself awake. I’m going to call the emergency services.” Thank God for Professor Iidabashi giving him the ability to do so without having to pull out his phone and take his arms off of Kokichi.

As he explained the situation to the operator that picked up the phone, he felt Kokichi go limp in his arms, and his gaze went down to the small boy to make sure that he was still alive and breathing. The tiny supreme leader’s status hadn’t changed; he had just relaxed now that he was being held by someone who he loved and trusted. A soft sigh of relief left him before he finished responding to the questions that the woman on the other end of the phone asked of him, and hung up as soon as she gave him the ability to so that he could give all of his attention to the boy wounded in his arms.

“You’re going to be okay,” he assured Kokichi gently, wiped some blood out of his face and flinched softly when some of the pink liquid immediately tried to take its place and covered his finger. Kiibo shrugged off the sweatshirt that had been given to him by Rantaro when he mentioned wanting to wear more human clothes, and used the sleeve to carefully wipe more away before using the other sleeve to press against the cut on Kokichi’s forehead and keep him from losing more blood.

He didn’t dare touch the scarf around his boyfriend’s neck, knowing that it was an important comfort object, so he ripped the sleeve from the sweatshirt and pressed the body of the shirt against the deeper stab wounds and bullet wound in Kokichi’s abdomen.  _ Who did this? _ he asked himself, pressed a shaking kiss against the small boy’s pale, bloodied forehead. “Kiibo…” he heard a familiar voice speak, and jolted to attention as he looked down at his boyfriend. Saw him alert and speaking.

“I love you,” Kokichi rasped out, forced himself to breathe in and breathe out. He was trying to stay awake and stay alive, and that was enough to make Kiibo proud of the boy in his arms. At least a little bit more determined that he was going to be okay. “I’m… I’m trying to stay awake. Trying to stay alive. I…” He forced himself to take a deep breath, a shakier one than before. He could hear a bit of rattling coming from the small boy’s lungs, and wondered briefly if he was wearing his binder, and if so how long he’d had it on. But he wasn’t determined enough in his knowledge of medical practices to begin taking off his boyfriend’s clothes to try and make breathing easier - he didn’t want to make it worse. “We should… go on a date soon. A fancy one. I have some money, I want to… to spoil you. Especially… especially to make up for this.” A weak laugh left him, and a pit formed in Kiibo’s chest again.

“I love you too, Kokichi,” he responded, his voice soft and loving as he kept pressure against Kokichi’s various wounds and tried to keep calm for his boyfriend’s sake. It wouldn’t do either of them any good for him to panic. “You’re going to be okay. The emergency services will be here shortly, and when you get better, I would love to go on a fancy date with you. I’ve never been on one before, did you know that?” He gave a smile that he hoped was gentle and reassuring but probably came off as a grimace.

His boyfriend didn’t seem to notice the difference, though, because he remained relaxed, unfocused violet eyes still trained on Kiibo’s face. His breathing was worryingly faint and coming out in wheezes, but it was even and stable, and he supposed that was what mattered. Kiibo tried to activate another of his functions so that he could hear the weak but steady heartbeat coming from his boyfriend. He was alive, and as long as the emergency services came by soon, he would remain so. Kiibo brushed Kokichi’s hair from his face once again, and watched as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

A scream left him, as he thought at first that his boyfriend falling asleep would mean that he would never wake up. Kokichi didn’t stir, and a panic attack built up in Kiibo’s entire body, overloading his systems as he held the small boy a little closer to him and cried and rocked back and forth. It didn’t ease up when paramedics rushed into the room and removed Kokichi from Kiibo’s arms; he tried to cling to the small boy, believing that this would be the last time he ever held him, but he knew that if his boyfriend was going to have any hope of recovery he would have to let go.

He rode in the ambulance, sitting next to the cot with a sleeping Kokichi hooked up to various machines to keep him breathing and his blood pumping. “He’s going to be just fine, he just lost a lot of blood and was in a lot of pain,” the paramedic beside Kokichi’s cot assured the robot as she took his vitals. “He’s lucky he had someone like you around to be with him.”

That was incorrect, Kiibo thought as he gently squeezed his boyfriend’s hand and thanked her. He was the one that was lucky to have Kokichi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand we're almost done! my day eight/free day submission is actually not a fic, but a spotify playlist, which you'll be able to find on my tumblr, teamchaosprez, tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed, it really helps me get inspiration!


End file.
